Cambodia: Ongoing arbitrary detention of Khmer Thavrak and KSILA members

The Observatory has been informed about the ongoing arbitrary detention of Mr. Hun Vannak, Ms. Chhoeun Daravy, Mr. Tha Lavy, Mr. Koet Saray, and Ms. So Metta, members of Khmer Thavrak [1], Mr. Muong Sopheak and Mr. Mean Prommony, member and Vice President of the Khmer Student Intelligent League Association (KSILA) [2], respectively.

On May 18, 2021, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court rejected the bail application of the above-mentioned seven human rights defenders to ensure that they would attend their trial, which has not yet been scheduled. At the time of publication of this urgent appeal, Koet Saray, Hun Vannak, Tha Lavy, Mean Prommony, and Muong Sopheak remain detained in Phnom Penh’s Correctional Center 1 (CC1), while Chhoeun Daravy and So Metta are detained in Phnom Penh’s Correctional Center 2 (CC2).

The Observatory recalls that Hun Vannak, Chhoeun Daravy, Tha Lavy, So Metta and Muong Sopheak were arbitrarily arrested in August and September 2020 for participating in a protest calling for the release of a prominent union leader Rong Chhun and other human rights defenders. Mean Prommony and Koet Saray were arrested on September 6, 2020, for planning a peaceful assembly at Freedom Park in Phnom Penh, which was eventually canceled by the police. They were all subsequently charged with “incitement to commit a felony or cause social unrest” (Articles 494 and 495 of the Cambodian Criminal Code) and placed under pre-trial detention. If convicted, they could face up to two years in prison and a 4,000,000 Riels (approximately 825 Euros) fine.

The Observatory further recalls that human rights defenders Mses. Eng Malai and Sar Kanika were also arbitrarily arrested in September 2020 as a result of protests calling for the release of human rights defenders. They subsequently appeared in front of the Phnom Penh Municipal court for the same charges, and both remain in pre-trial detention center CC2 since then.

The Observatory further notes that Mother Nature [3] members Thun Ratha, Long Kunthea, Phoun Keo Reaksmey, and Alejandro González-Davidson, and Khmer Thavrak member Chea Kunthin were sentenced on May 5, 2021 to prison terms ranging from 18 to 20 months for planning to attend peaceful demonstrations.

The Observatory expresses once again its deepest concern about the Cambodian authorities’ systematic legal harassment to target all critical voices, including human rights defenders, and aboutthe serious deterioration of the human rights situation in the country, including through increasing obstacles to the exercise of freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly in Cambodia.

The Observatory calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all above-mentioned human rights defenders since their detention is arbitrary and seems to be only aimed at punishing them for their legitimate human rights activities.